Thursday July 20^th – After 5 days of traveling we are staying put in Prideaux Haven today. The last 5 days of travel have been nice and sunny but this morning we woke up to the sound of rain pounding on the deck. It was kind of relaxing while we laid in bed until Julie got up and realized one of our deck hatches was open allowing mother nature to try and fill our boat with water.

The rain wasn’t letting up so we decided to just do all the things we normally would. Julie, Skylar and I jumped in the soaked dinghy for a run outside of the park to try our luck at some bottom fishing. At first the rain wasn’t bad, but then we all started getting wetter and wetter, the rain soaking in everywhere it could find the path of least resistance. Skylar caught 2 nice Yellow Eye Rock Fish while Julie and I kept fishing determined to catch our limit of 1 more.

We were cold, soaking wet and Julie had to pee so what else would we do, we kept fishing! We toughed it out as long as we could but had to hang it up when our toes got numb.

After getting warmed up the rain let up for the rest of the day. So we set our shrimp pots and went back out for some more rockfish in a new location. With the weather much more enjoyable this trip we caught 3 more nice Yellow Eye Rockfish.

We had fun hanging out with friends, all 3 boats rafted together, (our boat, our friends Todd & Tami’s boat & Todd’s parents Bruce & Gloria’s boat) and a total of 14 people, we had a huge dinner all together that night.

 

Tuesday July 18^th – Our trek north continues. Leaving Poets Cove at 8:20 am we needed to get to Nanaimo on the east side of Vancouver Island. Nanaimo is a great stopover point before heading out across the Strait of Georgia. The Strait of Georgia is a large body of water that can get extremely rough at times. It’s usually best to leave very early in the morning and Nanaimo provides a great jumping off point for the 15nm crossing.

But first we had to get to Nanaimo and that requires transiting Dodd Narrows. This is a narrow (1 boat at a time) passage that flows a lot of water. It can look exactly like a raging river with tall standing waves if wind opposes current. We timed it just right to hit the narrows around slack water so we didn’t have to deal with the fast current. As you approach the narrows and just about to enter, it’s proper etiquette to announce your passage on the VHF radio so opposing traffic will know your intentions. The announcement goes something like “Securite’ Securite’, (Securite’ is VHF radio talk for a message concerning navigation is about to be announced) 52’ power vessel entering Dodd Narrows north bound, any concerned traffic come back channel 16”. Skylar was a little nervous but I made him make the announcement over the radio. After a couple practice runs he did a fantastic job.

We made it through Dodd unscathed among shore side onlookers who were watching all the boats go through. We continued on to first get some fuel in Nanaimo then tied up on the huge commercial dock, our punishment because we didn’t have reservations. Todd & Tami were right behind us.

All 8 of us had lunch at Penny’s Palapa, a semi famous tiny Mexican restaurant right on the dock. After lunch we walked through the town then re-provisioned some essentials at the grocery store for the last time before heading to Desolation Sound.

Wednesday July 19^th – After getting a favorable early morning “light wind” forecast the day before we decided to make our run across the Strait of Georgia pulling away from the dock at 5:40am.

We motored out of the harbor and got our first look at the strait, the kids still asleep in their bunk and our friends right behind us. At first glance things looked fine but then they started deteriorating quickly. Soon we had 4 & 5 footers with the occasional 6’ wave on our aft quarter. We couldn’t head straight into them due to our destination so the boat was rolling pretty good. Ava was trying to sleep but kept getting rolled out of her bunk. She was exhausted and didn’t feel great, so she went back to bed in the master stateroom where the bed runs the opposite direction.

After a while we started getting somewhat used to the motion and continued on for a long 76.4nm day arriving in Prideaux Haven in Desolation Sound at 1:00pm. So far we have traveled 240nm (that’s 276 regular miles) north of Tacoma.

Todd’s parents (Bruce & Gloria) were already anchored in the bay so Todd and I both rafted to him. Bruce had a bit of a mishap. While anchoring a line got caught in his prop and wrapped around the shaft causing the engine to stop. He was glad to see all of us willing to dive under the boat to cut the line free. Skylar, Zach, Todd and I all took turns diving under the boat to cut free the tangled line. The kids were excited for the adventure and did most of the work. It took at least an hour or more but after a whole lot of dives, Bruce’s boat was free.

That night we all had a great dinner together.

 

Monday July 17^th – Today we make a run for the boarder. No not Taco Bell, and not the southern boarder, we are going to visit our neighbors to the north. The BC coast of Canada has some of the most amazing cruising grounds in the world. We love it up there, the people are friendly and warm swimmable water exists in Desolation Sound just north of Vancouver BC

But before we cross, we need to check the crab pot. Skylar said it was heavy coming up then the bounty of the sea showed itself in the form of 8 legal crabs. We were pretty excited, 8 crabs in 1 pull is quite the catch.

We pulled anchor and headed out of Reid Harbor. Along the way we stopped by a salmon fishing spot that has produced in the past but no such luck today. Onward we traveled 9.5nm across Haro Strait into Canada.

We tied up to the customs dock in Bedwell Harbor and went through the quick process of admitting us into Canada. Our destination for the night is Poets Cove just a stones throw away from the customs dock. After getting settled in Julie and I ditched the kids and went to the bar for a relaxing drink alone.

Our friends Todd & Tami and their two kids, were on their way north to meet us at Poets Cove that evening. We decided to cook the crab we caught so we could have a crabitizer ready for them when they arrived. After a fun time eating crab on the dock with friends we all had a great dinner at the restaurant.